We’re celebrating with Dr. James Prather the successful defense of his dissertation and earning his Ph.D. after years of hard work and dedication. Defending a dissertation is the culmination of a long and laborious doctoral program, usually taking place over the span of many years. The dissertation defense is, in its self, a momentous milestone that signals reaching the pinnacle of one’s graduate student career. We’ve asked Dr. Prather to share with us his thoughts on the process.

What did you major in as a doctoral candidate?

The PhD is in Computer Science and my research focus area is Human-Computer Interaction.

Prather defends his dissertation.

What were the biggest challenges you faced in this process?

Teaching full time while also being a full time PhD student.

What were your most satisfying achievements during this process?

The publication of papers that I wrote, including work out of my dissertation.

The committee looks through Prather’s disseration slides during his presentation.

What did you learn that most surprised you?

When I was studying for my comprehensive exam in Computer Networking, I ran across a surprising little story: an undertaker named Almon Strowger found out that the wife of his competitor was the town telephone operator and was directing any calls for an undertaker to her husband rather than Strowger. So Strowger invented automatic telephone switching to remove humans from the decision making process and let an impartial machine do the job instead. It’s amazing what often drives technological innovation!

For students thinking about pursuing graduate school, what advice would you give them?

Find yourself a study group and communicate regularly – it’s a lifesaver. Get to know your professors and get involved in their research. Treat school like a job: go to work, do your work, come home and leave your work at work. Get some sleep!

You do a lot of research and projects with students. Please tell us what you have been doing this year and how you have engaged students in the process.

This year I have been mentoring a group of nine senior students who formed a local chapter of SIGCHI (Special Interest Group in Computer-Human Interaction). They developed a research idea, carried out an experiment, analyzed the data, wrote up the results, and submitted it to a top-tier international conference (SIGCHI 2018) and were accepted. In April, we’ll be traveling to Montreal, Canada, to present the paper and enter into that conference’s student research competition. I have also mentored an individual student in a one-on-one capacity who carried out her own research project during Fall 2017. Both the large group and the individual student will also be presenting at the ACU undergraduate research festival. Finally, I also involve a student or two in my personal research into how novice programmers learn to code and how we can make better user interfaces to increase usability and learnability.

What are you looking forward to now that you have successfully defended your dissertation?

Definitely spending more time with my family.

A happy Prather with his dissertation advisor after a succesful defense.

Anything else you’d like to mention?

My wife, Erin, deserves a big shout-out because while I was spending most nights and weekends at work, she was often at home alone with our small children. This PhD was a team achievement, for sure! Also, I don’t think that it would have been possible to complete the PhD without the support and encouragement of my colleagues here at ACU. The faculty with whom I work have all been through this process and have been sympathetic and even offered to help where they could. The staff have gone out of their way to help me when I was beyond busy. I’m so very grateful to work at ACU and I’m looking forward to the years ahead spent right here.

COBA would like to welcome Rich Tanner, new Clinical Professor of Digital Entertainment. Rich has taught for the School of Information Technology and Computing part-time for the past several years and will now be working with technology students on a full-time basis. Tanner has an A.A.S. in Computer Graphics and Programming from Missouri State University, a B.S. in Information Technology with a Concentration in Graphics and Game Development from Abilene Christian University, and a M.S. in Human Computer Interaction from Iowa State University. Rich was contracted as an iOS Developer and Consultant for the KAART Group, was contracted to develop a number of mobile applications for ACU, and worked as a Mobile and Senior Software Developer for USAA. Tanner teaches 3D Modeling, Animation, Mobile Application Development, Game Asset Creation and Texturing, and Character Creation in Maya, Photoshop, and Unity. Tanner brings skills and ingenuity to his classes that will instruct and develop technology students in new and exciting ways.

What do you teach at ACU?

The cool stuff! As a DET faculty, I get to teach 3D Modeling, Animation, and Mobile Application Development (a CS course).

What committees/other duties do you have at ACU aside from teaching?

I have been assigned as a Developer Mentor for Wildcat Software, our student run software company.

What drew you to teaching? Why did you want to work with students?

It’s what I do! Even at USAA, I often found myself drawn to roles where I could teach and mentor new employees and interns. My wife and I also spent 3 years as Youth Ministers while we were in Plano, and I’ve been practicing my teaching on my own children for the past 19+ years. I love seeing people get excited about new ideas and material, and helping people realize their potential. Plus, I just generally get excited about the kinds of things that I get to teach! It’s only natural to share that excitement with a room full of people.

Outside of teaching, what passions and hobbies do you have?

Obviously, I enjoy spending time with my family. My wife and I have been married for almost 21 years, and we have four children. Richelle, who is 19, is a new transfer student to ACU, studying Elementary Education. Kira is 15 and goes to Abilene High. Xandra is 12 and is a student at Craig Middle School. And Connor, who is 7, goes to Bonham Elementary. Connor is the only boy, and was born here in Abilene right before I graduated from ACU. We all enjoy watching lots of movies together and playing various games. I spend my free time (when I have any) working on home renovations, playing video games (usually single player adventures), and doing lots and lots of reading.